Councilor Jerry Guardo will fly to Manila tomorrow to be proclaimed as Cebu City’s new councilor of the city’s north district. | Delta Dyrecka Letigio
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Councilor Jerry Guardo will be proclaimed on Monday morning, July 1, as the 8th North District Councilor.
His proclamation follows the recent decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) First Division and Second Division as affirmed by the Comelec en banc to disqualify Councilor Alvin Arcilla and Councilor Sisino Andales’ ceritificates of candidacy in the May 13 elections.
The Comelec ruled that Arcilla and Andales could no longer run since they served three consecutive terms from 2010 to 2019, despite their short suspension in 2016.
Read more: After Arcilla, Comelec disqualifies Andales’ candidacy in May 2019 elections
Andales will file an appeal to the Supreme Court while Arcilla failed to get a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the execution of the en banc’s decision.
Arcilla’s disqualification paved the way for Guardo, who garnered the 9th highest votes in the May 13 elections, to take the 8th seat of the City Council’s North District.
Read more: Arcilla disqualification affirmed; Guardo to be proclaimed as Cebu City councilor
Guardo said he would be flying to Manila as the Cebu City Board of Canvassers had been ordered to reconvene in the Comelec office in Manila particularly for the proclamation of Guardo as the 8th councilor, Councilor Raymond Garcia as the 7th councilor, and Councilor Alvin Dizon as the 1st Councilor of Cebu City North District.
Guardo said that after his proclamation, he would take his oath in front of Mayor Edgardo Labella on Tuesday, morning July 2, just in time for the inaugural session in the afternoon.
He said he would be revealing his party affiliation on whether he would stay with the opposition party, Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK), or move to the administration party, Partido Barug-PDP Laban.
Read more: Guardo pledges support for Labella: ‘Now is the time to unite for the good of Cebu City’
Nonetheless, Guardo said he would stay true to his stand that he would be supporting Mayor Labella’s administration.
“Nothing has changed with my political stand. My public declaration of support to the Mayor of Cebu City, Mayor Labella,” said Guardo.
If Guardo moves to Barug, the administration will already have eight councilors against the opposition’s 10 councilors.
Councilor David Tumulak has also announced going independent from his allied party, BO-PK, and he too expressed support to Mayor Labella.
The Council stands as of June 30 with eight Barug councilors, nine BO-PK councilors, and one independent councilor.
Read more: Labella to 14th Cebu City Council: Pray for me
Mayor Labella, for his part, said that with Arcilla and Andales’ disqualifications, he was expecting that the majority of the City Council would eventually be under the administration’s party.
If Andales fails to secure a TOR against his disqualification, former Councilor Joel Garganera, will take his place as he garnered the 10th highest votes in last elections.
Labella said he was not worried if the Council would remain under the opposition majority because he believed the councilors could remain objective.
However, he admitted that he had concerns over the party’s lack of majority.
He said he had been continuously in communication with the opposition councilors and they promised to support projects that would be good for the city although they would still be critical in the council.
“That’s how democracy works. That’s how democracy is practiced,” said Labella./dbs